Setting Up Your Own Domain

Would you like to set up your own website with your own name or business name? Want to do it without banner ads or pop-ups that will keep visitors away in droves? It's all a matter of buying and setting up your own domain.

Domain names are proliferating all over the Internet. Every major business (and more small ones every day) has an online site, even if only so that their would-be customers can obtain store information. Still more offer online shopping options, allowing you to buy directly from them even when you're too far to drive to one of their retail outlets.

Aside from the boom in business sites, more and more individuals are purchasing and operating domains. Some set up sites to showcase hobbies. Others just want a central online page to display family photos and information, without the third-party ads you get when using "free" photo gallery options.

If you can use an email account, you can set up your own domain. It's a two-step process, beginning with a domain purchase.

Domain Names

First things first. You will need to decide on and then purchase the domain name you want.

The "domain name" is just that: only a name. Whether you're a business or an individual, though, you'll certainly want to find a name that's easy for your visitors to remember. If you'll be creating a business site, your domain name should ideally be your business name. As the Internet market continues to grow, finding an available domain name may be your single biggest challenge.

If and when you're ready to purchase a domain, it's pretty simple to find places that sell them. Keep in mind that cheap isn't always cheap. There can be (and often are) many hidden costs associated with your purchase. I purchase domains exclusively from GoDaddy.com. The site can be somewhat overwhelming for someone new, but they offer reasonably-priced domain names. GoDaddy is a stable operation; they are technically sound, and their service allows you to buy hosting from them or set up with another provider. GoDaddy also provides excellent customer support, including a phone number to call when you can't find an answer in their knowledge base. With GoDaddy, the only domain setup cost above their quoted price is a yearly ICANN fee of 25 cents.

Once you've purchased your domain name, the seller's system will typically generate a "parked" page, one that merely lets the world know the domain is taken and a site is pending. It will generally become visible up within a few hours of your purchase, unless you immediately change the nameserver information (more about that later.) You can't edit or add to the parked page. You can only replace it by tying the domain to web space, also known as a hosting account.

Hosting Space

The next step is finding a hosting service, which is just another name for the web space you will need so your domain can be viewed online. I wish I could tell you that setting up web hosting is as simple as setting up a domain name to obtain and use a web hosting service. It's not.

The single biggest challenge you may ever face as a website owner is finding a hosting service you like.

Here is where price alone is not a factor. You MUST have server reliability, customer support, and confidence that your provider won't disappear one day and take your site with them. There are other significant considerations, as well. You'll want a site that's simple to administer. You'll need the access to set up email accounts, databases, and other features. Some hosting services charge extra for those features. If you run across that, keep looking.

Your domain hosting servers should have a minimum of 99% uptime. Read the fine print to see what liability (if any) the hosting service assumes if they fail to achieve the uptime.

Some hosting services offer NO such options to their customers. For those, you have to use an FTP program to upload your pages and look to your hosting service techs to do absolutely everything else. That alternative leaves much to be desired, whether you're experienced or a complete novice.

There are several domain administration panels available. Probably the most used is cPanel, though I personally avoid it like the plague. It is not user friendly. The learning curve is pretty steep, though it is technically sound. It is the domain-administration software of choice for most of the lower-cost hosting services.

I prefer Plesk administration on a Linux server, though Plesk is available on both Linux and Windows systems. Depending on what you plan to do with your domain, you may prefer a Windows hosting alternative. For example, if you build an .asp page or two, it won't work on a Linux server. Of the two, Linux is generally more stable and offers more uptime.

While looking at hosting services, make sure they include a "site builder" program that enables you to build your pages using pre-made templates. While they're a bit bulky to use, they can be a boon to someone who doesn't want to learn HTML or just wants to get online quickly. (Plesk has such an option built-in.)

Whatever your preference in terms of the administration options, you'll first want to check out the customer support options. Do they have a live chat assistant? Do they have an extensive (and easy to navigate) knowledge base/FAQ option? Do they provide a telephone number for those moments when absolutely nothing is working?

And of course price is a factor. Most packages offer significant savings if you pay a lump sum for a year or two of hosting. Frequently, paying for a year or two at a time will mean the hosting service waives setup fees, which can be $30 or more.

If you don't have a business-dependent site, there are some free domain hosting services available. Just be aware that they will not offer you much (if anything) by way of support, and may not support all types of web pages. Furthermore, it's not unusual for any free service to close down without notice, so if you choose that option, be sure to back up all of your files on a regular basis. (That's a good idea regardless of your hosting service.)

I purchased a multi-domain hosting service a few years back. It was initially set up because I became frustrated with my old provider and figured I could do it better, and because I wanted a cost-effective option for multiple domains.

As it turned out, it was a well-timed decision. I inherited several customers from my old hosting service after it went belly-up no more than a week after I bought ours. If, like me, you elect to buy a package deal, bear in mind that the support at that level will be geared toward someone with experience.

How Do I Connect My Domain To The Web Space?

Unless you buy your domain and hosting services from the same company, you'll need to tell the domain service how to find your hosted web space. It's actually a pretty simple operation, involving DNS (Domain Name Service) routing. In other words, you'll have to tell your domain where to look for the hosting space.

When you purchase your hosting package, the hosting service will ask for at least one domain name. After you provide payment and all pertinent information, the provider will give you a set of at least two nameserver urls. Rather than beginning with the standard "www" of a web page, each nameserver url begins with the letters ns. For example, your nameservers might be ns.servername.com and ns2.servername.com.

Log into your domain-name account and find the nameservers fields. Then overtype with the new names, making sure to submit the changes. (In GoDaddy, choose Off-site DNS and paste into the appropriate fields, etc.)

Sometimes the transfer acts very quickly, allowing you to see the new domain within minutes or just a few hours. Other times there may be delays of up to 48 hours while your domain name connects to the hosting service. In either event, as soon as the domain and the hosting service are talking to one another, you can go to www.yourdomainname.com (replacing the "yourdomainname.com" with your actual domain name) and see what you've built.